U.S. President Donald Trump described the meeting that took place in Moscow between the Russian leader and special envoy Steve Whitcoff, as well as the American president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, as "very good."
Whitcoff and Kushner previously reported that the meeting with Putin was "thorough and productive." Trump noted that both are confident in Moscow's desire to end the conflict in Ukraine.
According to Trump, Whitcoff and Kushner got the impression that Putin is interested in ending the war. "He seems to want to return to a more normal way of life," Trump said about his representatives' feelings after the negotiations.
Trump also expressed the opinion that Putin would prefer to trade with the U.S. rather than continue the conflict. "They got a strong impression that he wants to make a deal. We'll see how things develop," he added.
Whitcoff and Kushner arrived in Moscow for discussions on December 2. This was already Whitcoff's sixth trip to Russia this year, the previous one took place on August 6 before the Russia-U.S. summit in Anchorage.
The next day, December 3, negotiations between Russia and the U.S. took place in the Kremlin, lasting nearly five hours. On the Russian side, Putin's assistant Yuri Ushakov and the president's special representative for investment cooperation with foreign countries Kirill Dmitriev participated in the conversation.
Ushakov characterized the meeting as "very useful and constructive." He reported that the conversation began with the transmission of greetings and best wishes from Trump to Putin. Putin also asked to send "friendly greetings" to Trump and a number of important political signals.
Among the topics discussed were territorial issues, without resolving which Russia sees no possibility for resolving the crisis, as well as the prospects for economic interaction between Moscow and Washington. However, no compromise on territorial issues was reached, and the parties agreed not to disclose the essence of their negotiations.
